With the coordination of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University
(ÇOMÜ), Student Ceramics Community operating under the Directorate of
Health, Culture and Sports, in order to ensure the benefit of the arts education
and art therapy, and with the visually impaired in 2003 and 2009, applied
ceramic lessons were held. It is planned to provide ceramic education based on
'touch' and 'hearing' skills within the touch, taste, smell and hearing skills of
the visually impaired individuals. It has been suggested that individuals with
visual impairments can receive applied ceramics training with 'touch' vision
and especially they can develop their skills as well as a person who sees them
in the traditional pottery wheel applications, which are traditional shaping
methods, and the possibilities of acquiring a profession have been investigated
in line with their developed mastery skills. In 2003, applied ceramics lessons
were held with 15 visually impaired and in 2009 with 10 volunteer members
of two visually impaired associations in the center of Çanakkale. In ceramic
education terminology, embossed (relief) technique and potter wheel shaping
techniques are used. Within the scope of ceramics lessons, visual education
materials about the lesson topics to be used in the clay shaping process were
specially prepared with manual labor. These materials are; some standard
image objects made of cardboard; fish, bird, butterfly etc. models like. For the
visually impaired, these materials were cut from cardboard again as a template
and they were prepared with embossing on them, and the disabled person was
tapped to see. Ceramic lessons held in July-August in 2003, 8 weeks as a
summer school, 1 day on the weekend, 2 hours, ceramic lessons in 2009; 6
weeks, 1 day a week and 2 hours after evening hours. Among the results
obtained in this research; It has been understood that visually impaired people
can get art education, by using relief technique and pottery wheel methods,
they can perform clay shaping applications by touching. As a result; shaping methods and technical material possibilities are adapted for the visually
impaired. In the three-dimensional shaping process, it had positive effects on
form perceptions such as volume, shape, and texture and psycho-social
development. Two-hour practice lessons were blocked and the time was
sufficient. For the education of disabled people in the Faculties of Fine Arts,
giving elective field knowledge courses and putting them in the curriculum are
among the important outcomes of this process. Ceramic products that emerged
during the ceramic lessons were opened in 2003 at the ÇOMÜ, Old Rectorate
Building Exhibition Hall, and the “ceramic exhibition for the disabled” was
brought to the public as a permanent exhibition. Again, a ceramic monument
sculpture made of three-dimensional ceramic monuments was made in 2003
within the scope of ceramic lessons and placed in the Çanakkale Public
Garden. On December 03, 2003, the work was opened on the day of the world
handicapped and brought to the public. In 2009, ceramic works carried out
within the scope of lessons with 10 visually impaired people were presented to
the public with a ceramic period exhibition called "Did you see what I did?" In
the OLD Rectorate Building Exhibition Hall.
Keywords, Visually İmpaired (Blind), Ceramics, Clay, Art Therapy